The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has declared that UN nuclear inspectors will gain access to Iran's uranium enrichment sites under the framework deal reached last week between the United States and Iran, even as Tehran insists any such access can only come after a final agreement is signed.

Speaking at a press conference at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi cited the memorandum of understanding signed by both presidents as leaving no room for ambiguity. "The fundamental thing is that there has been a memorandum of understanding, signed by both presidents," Grossi told reporters. "It says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out, with regard to nuclear material and facilities, will be supervised by the IAEA — in bold letters. This is going to happen." He added that his agency would work out the practical details — dates, procedures, and locations — very soon, noting that whether inspections begin within days or a couple of weeks was "important, but not essential."

Grossi's remarks come amid an open dispute over what the two sides actually agreed to. US Vice-President JD Vance said on Monday that Iran had "agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country," only for Iran's foreign ministry to respond the following day that there had been "no detailed discussions" and no plans to grant access to facilities bombed during a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran in June 2025. President Donald Trump then dismissed Iran's denials as "false statements," insisting Tehran had "fully and completely agreed" to inspections. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi pushed back further on Wednesday, writing that access to damaged nuclear facilities would only be addressed within the framework of a final deal and after sanctions had been lifted in practice. "Media noise cannot be used to impose facts on the ground," he wrote.

The stakes of resolving this dispute are considerable. Since the June 2025 conflict, in which the US struck Iran's main enrichment facilities, the IAEA has been blocked from accessing those sites and says it cannot verify the current size or location of Iran's uranium stockpile. Before the conflict, Iran held roughly 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity — near weapons-grade — theoretically sufficient, if enriched further to 90%, for up to ten nuclear bombs. Non-proliferation experts have raised concerns that some stockpile material may be moving to undeclared locations. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and that it will never seek to develop nuclear weapons.

The 14-point memorandum of understanding gives both sides 60 days to negotiate a final deal, during which Iran reaffirmed it would not produce nuclear weapons while the US committed to lifting sanctions and supporting a reconstruction fund of at least $300 billion. However, a fundamental tension remains: Washington ties sanctions relief to nuclear compliance, while Tehran insists nuclear concessions will only follow the actual lifting of sanctions. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to the Gulf region — meeting leaders in the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain — to reassure American allies that any final agreement with Iran would not compromise their security. Grossi has previously warned that without genuine IAEA access, any nuclear deal risks becoming "an illusion of an agreement."